Nodding, Sebastian said, “And you’re really good at it.”
“I know,” Mikey said absently as she glanced around the busy cafeteria, making sure that none of the teachers had noticed Sebastian’s presence even as she couldn’t help but wonder how he kept managing to sneak in here without getting caught.
“Why are we wallowing?” Sebastian asked, popping another tater tot in his mouth as he leaned over and picked her backpack up off the floor.
“Because it brings me joy,” she said, grabbing one of the chocolate milks off the tray and took a sip as Sebastian searched through her bag to see if she had any new books to read. When he came across the book that she was supposed to read for class, he said, “The Count of Monte Cristo? I’ve already read this book,” with a disappointed sigh.
“Figures,” Mikey said with a pathetic groan as she watched Sebastian shift his attention to her book report.
“What’s this?” he asked, frowning down at her paper.
“My book report,” she said, switching her attention to her burger.
Blinking, Sebastian looked back down at the paper in his hands and–
“No, seriously. What is this?” he asked, making her eyes narrow on him as she reached over and snatched the paper that she’d really rather not discuss out of his hands and decided that a change in topic was in order.
“How was therapy?” she asked, watching as he ran a hand through his messy short dark-brown hair that somedays looked black, today being one of those days.
She liked his hair, but she liked his eyes even more. They were the bluest eyes that she’d ever seen. They were also the first thing that she’d noticed about him. The second? That he was too damn serious for a kid their age. While the rest of the kids in his family had been playing football, running around on the beach, and playing tag, he’d had his face buried in a book, ignoring the world around him.
The few times that he’d spoken to her, he’d been quiet, greeted her with a polite smile, asked her a few questions about baseball and then…
He’d have another book in his hands and the world around him was once again forgotten. She’d shrugged it off, figuring that he wasn’t really interested in talking to her, which was why he’d taken her by surprise when he’d decided to go with her when she got stuck going with her mom and Reese on an errand to pick up tools for the renovation on their house. Not that driving two hours to pick up tools was her idea of a good time, but it had either been that or spending the day with her Uncle Eric at his office, helping sort through IRS forms.
That had led to her sneaking over to the cottage Reese’s family was renting for the summer, deciding that it would be in her best interest to bring someone with her to make it harder for her mom to change her mind and make her go with her uncle. With that in mind, she’d quickly decided to drag one of the boys with her since the girls hadn’t seemed all that interested in baseball.
She’d quickly decided against bringing Sebastian with her because he was too damn serious and had settled on his brother Jonathan only to find herself dragged out of the room by Sebastian, who’d decided that he was going no matter what. That’s when she’d realized there was a lot more to Sebastian than she’d thought. He was smart, funny, and entertaining, which she’d appreciated since it made the trip more interesting.
They’d hung out with his family, played Monopoly, watched movies, and had a sleepover at Reese’s parents’ house and then, the next morning when they got back to her house, it had been like none of it had ever happened. He’d gone back to his books and she’d been disappointed. She figured that he didn’t want to be friends with a girl, which sucked, but she’d been used to it by then. Most of the boys that she went to school with didn’t want to be friends with a girl, and the girls…
Definitely didn’t want to be friends with a tomboy.
After her mother married Reese, Mikey hadn’t really expected to see Sebastian that much other than at family gatherings, so it surprised her when she woke up one night to find Sebastian sitting on the bed next to her, reading a book. Before she’d had a chance to ask him what he was doing in her room at two in the morning, he’d shooshed her and told her that he was reading.
That had been followed by him stealing her pillow, hogging the bed, and ignoring her while she’d laid there, contemplating shoving him off her bed. In the end, she’d shrugged it off and went back to sleep, too tired to really care. Since then, they’d become best friends, not that he really gave her a choice, Mikey thought, biting back a smile, that is, until he reached over and stole her hamburger.
Then, she settled on glaring at the boy that she couldn’t imagine her life without.
Chapter 4
“Therapy?” Mikey said as she reached over and stole her burger back.
“What about it?” Sebastian asked, biting back a sigh as he contemplated buying another burger only to decide against it since it wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught.
“How was it?” Mikey asked, finishing off her burger before he had a chance to steal it again.
“Life-altering,” he said dryly, stealing Mikey’s pudding as he watched her, taking in the way that her bright green eyes narrowed on him as she worried her plump bottom lip between her teeth, the way the stubborn curve of her small chin firmed in determination, and the Dutch braids she always wore her hair in, andī
God, she really was too damn adorable for words.
Nodding, Mikey said, “I can tell,” making his lips twitch.
“Are you going to tell me about that book report?” Sebastian asked, gesturing to the incoherent mess covered in red marker.
“Are you ever going to tell me why you’re not in school?” she countered back, making him sigh.
“Because I love homeschooling,” he said flatly.
“And I totally believe you,” Mikey said, blinking.
Narrowing his eyes on his best friend, he said, “There’s nothing to tell.”
“I see,” she murmured, looking thoughtful. “And the fact that you got expelled from this school after only one day…”
“Was unfortunate,” Sebastian said, reluctantly getting to his feet when the lunch bell rang, signaling the end to his daily reprieve from the boredom that was his life.
There was a heavy sigh and then, “I’ll see you after school,” Mikey said as Sebastian grabbed their tray.
“Maybe…” Sebastian said with a teasing smile that had her narrowing her beautiful green eyes on him.
“Please don’t make me beat you up,” Mikey said, trying to look terrifying as she narrowed her eyes on him, but she was too damn adorable to pull it off.
Still…
“I’ll think about it,” Sebastian said, shooting her a wink as he headed to the trash barrels by the back wall and took care of their tray.
After one last look at Mikey to find her pouting adorably, Sebastian made his way through the crowded cafeteria and headed toward the boys’ locker room. He waited by the door to make sure that the coast was clear before he headed inside and made his way straight to the back entrance to the gym and seconds later, was pushing open the heavy security door that the coach kept propped open during the day with an old orange traffic cone that had seen better days.